Ballot to list 'Kinky,' but not 'Grandma'

November ballot to list 'Kinky,' but not 'Grandma'Ruling says Strayhorn moniker is more of a slogan than a nickname

CLAY ROBISON, Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau

Published
5:30 am CDT, Tuesday, July 11, 2006

AUSTIN - Kinky was feeling almost regal, while Grandma was fuming Monday after Texas' chief elections officer approved the first nickname for November's election ballot but scratched the second.

Secretary of State Roger Williams ruled that satirical musician-author Kinky Friedman, running for governor as an independent, can use his well-known nickname, preceded by Richard, his given name.

But Williams refused to allow fellow independent Carole Keeton Strayhorn, the state comptroller, to use "Grandma" because, he said, it is more of a political slogan than a nickname.

Friedman had preferred to use only his nickname, but he accepted Williams' decision.

"I like the name 'Richard Kinky Friedman,'" he said in a statement issued by his spokeswoman. "It evokes a certain sense of nobility that falls somewhere between Richard the Lion-hearted and Richard Nixon."

But Strayhorn protested and vowed to take Williams to court.

"I am not a slogan. I am Grandma," she said.

She accused Williams, an appointee of Gov. Rick Perry, of "playing political games" to give Perry an advantage. The Republican governor also is being challenged for re-election by Democratic nominee Chris Bell and Libertarian James Werner.

Perry spokesman Robert Black said Strayhorn was throwing a "childish temper tantrum" and invited her to "pick up her ball and go home."

State law permits candidates to use well-known nicknames on the ballot but not portions of political slogans, Williams said.

In a letter to Strayhorn's attorney, Roy Minton, Williams said he disagreed with the comptroller's argument that she was widely known as "Grandma."

He said Minton had failed to "articulate any facts that would counter my interpretation that the use of 'Grandma,' in the context of Carole Keeton Strayhorn's name appearing on the ballot, is a slogan and as such is prohibited by the Texas Election Code."

The elections official also noted that Strayhorn has never appeared on the ballot as "Grandma" and doesn't use the nickname on her official letterhead.

The comptroller had won several statewide elections under her previous last name, Rylander, but remarried after the 2002 election. In an e-mail to supporters a few weeks ago, Strayhorn said many voters still didn't make the connection between the two names.

But, she said, her name identification jumped by about 10 points in internal polls when "Grandma" was used.

Strayhorn has frequently called herself "One Tough Grandma" in political statements and advertising. But she said Monday that the name was more than a slogan.

"This is how people know me and address me," she said, announcing that she will file suit in state district court to try to force Williams to comply with her request.

She said Williams' decision was "discriminatory" because other candidates, including Perry and Bell, get to use nicknames on the ballot.

Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the secretary of state, said the election code allows a familiar form of a longer, given name to be printed on the ballot. In Perry's case, Rick is short for Richard, and Chris is short for Bell's given name, Christopher.

Friedman has been known as Kinky for years, but Williams said the election code required his given name also to be listed on the ballot.